Watoto Children’s Choir wows Sacred Heart audience

KARAMUNSING (CS) – Watoto Children’s Choir wowed Sacred Heart’s appreciative audience with their colourful vibrant songs and dance which sent them rocking from their seats and onto the floor.

The 103rd Choir from Uganda, comprising nine boys and nine girls (age 6-12), was on their South East Asia leg of a six-month tour beginning with Sabah, and then to Singapore and Peninsula Malaysia. They were accompanied by adult care-givers.

The indefatigable young dancers and songsters kept up an impressive non-stop performance, with intermittent testimonies, prayer ministry and video presentation.

Their stories of triumph over their brokenness and being made parentless as a result of war and disease was their gift of shared joy, hope, love and peace with the audience, as promised by SHC parish priest Fr Paul Lo in his introduction of the children’s choir.

The audience, without leaving the confines of their homes, was able to view through video presentations, the physical operation of Watoto Children’s Choir at Watoto Church, Uganda, and be inspired by the many volunteers who serve there and other countries involved in Watoto.

They discovered that todate, Watoto has managed to rescue over 5,000 children and put them back to a life of love, sustenance, health and education.

One among many of the children who have their life made positive and life-giving is Edith. She shared about the loss of her parents at 8, found hope, joy and love with Watoto at 9 and now in her twenties, armed with a Bachelors in Ethics and Human Rights, has become a mentor for the children at Watoto, who are in her same shoes when she was a child. She ascribed all the good that has happened in her life to the Lord, who is the source of hope, joy, love and peace.

Supporting their aspiration to give hope, they sang a song, In the Name, from their latest album We Will Go, coincidentally the theme for their Sabah concert tour, which attests to the Name of Jesus, the Power of that Name that can free them from the slavery of fear and restore them to a life of hope.

Aspirations of Watoto Children’s Choir

WATOTO means ‘children’ in Swahili. Watoto Church is based in Uganda. One of its ministries/outreach work is its Children’s Choir (www.watoto.com or www. watoto.asia).

Watoto Children’ s Choirs travel the world to raise awareness of the brokenness of society in Africa, especially in Uganda. Uganda has resulted in two million child orphans, high rates of deaths especially through AIDS related complications etc, producing a fragmented and dysfunctional society with the most vulnerable being the children and women.

Watoto connects with organizations, schools, universities, and churches through local representatives, like Watoto Asia, to achieve its vision and mission to “Rescue, Raise and Rebuild”.

The choir aspires to: 1) Be part o f the leadership development program for those involved in the choir – the choir members learn to care for one another, to deal with issues, to support the growth of each other including bearing one another’s burdens, to learn to be accountable to each other and to an established leadership especially to God; to disciple the younger ones, to build relationships with the children (orphans) who have few or no options in life.

These include developing their financial  management, logistical, counseling, people management, working outside established perimeters and culture.

2) To bring awareness to people of the conditions in Africa, especially concerning the effects and affects of poverty, war, disease, moral corruption of society, on the children, women, communities of Africa (Uganda).

3) To build connections and relationships especially those of the body of Christ, that will benefit the vulnerable and the poor of Uganda. This includes support for the work in Africa/Uganda which can come through finance, and people (preferably the Body of Christ), and prayer.

4) To the certainty that salvation and redemption comes because of the love and grace of God through His Son Jesus the Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

5) To raise funds to cover the costs of the tour, to request for sponsorship of child, baby, mother, and other support for the work in Africa.

The choir consists of children and adults who have lived through the destruction that come from a broken people and society; and to testify to the power and love of God. Each Choir consists of 26-28 persons (not including the local representatives),made up as follows: 10 adult caregivers (five male and five female), plus nine boys and nine girls (aged 6-12). – Source: Kenneth Wong, watoto.asia